


Eight Legs to The Wall

by assholemurphy



Series: Stories From The Promised Land [8]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Arachnophobia, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Spiders, a tiny bit of angst, canon compliant up to the end of s2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-10
Updated: 2018-08-10
Packaged: 2019-06-25 07:51:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15636423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/assholemurphy/pseuds/assholemurphy
Summary: It's another day in the lighthouse bunker, Murphy's getting ready to make lunch for him and his newfound boyfriend, but a visit from a certain itsy bitsy spider turns the peaceful afternoon into a scene from a horror movie, at least, that's what it is from Murphy's perspective. But Monty's there to squash his fear, literally, and fluff ensues. A little angst at the end because Murphy's a self-hating dumbass.Or: The One In Which Murphy Is Scared Shitless of Spiders





	Eight Legs to The Wall

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, 'sup, been awhile, hadn't it? Anyway, after that finale, I finally forced myself to sit down and finish this fic, since it has been sitting open on my comp for like, two weeks. But, here it is. There's not a lot of point to it, really, but I needed some Murphonty fluff after that season. (But, damn, the fucking Murphonty was great whenever they were _actually together_.)
> 
> So, here's the next in the verse. #8. Idk what to write next, tho. I'm not sure if I should go with more domestic fluff (ft. gardening) or a smut fic, so like, if you've got a preference, lmk in the comments or find me on tumblr (also assholemurphy).
> 
> Enjoy!

Murphy hummed to himself as he studied the recipe he’d decided on making for lunch. He’d found the cookbook when he’d gotten to the lighthouse, well, he’d found several, but he was still only on this one. Not all of it sounded good, actually, some of it was absolutely disgusting in nature, but most of it was alright. So, he’d been working his way through the book, alone at first, but now that Monty was here, he used him as his test subject. And it seemed that Monty was more than happy to be his guinea pig. He never complained about the food Murphy made and when Murphy had asked why he never said anything bad about his cooking, Monty had just shrugged and said, “Beats half burnt meat and sour berries.” Murphy couldn’t disagree.

That didn’t mean Monty didn’t like it, though. He was always quick to ask for more or to let Murphy know what he actually thought about it when Murphy asked for a real opinion. It was always good, even when Murphy himself didn’t like it. Unless, of course, the recipe had called for something Monty didn’t like, and since they were working with a lot of foods they didn’t have on the ark, they were still learning what those foods were. But, even then, Monty never said the food was bad, just that he didn’t like the taste of that particular thing, and Murphy was always glad to make him waffles instead, which seemed to be Monty’s favorite food, so it was a good thing they had a near endless supply of them. Probably because the mix was easy to store and easier to prepare.

Truth be told, Murphy _was_ a good cook, even if he didn’t believe it. His food was better than anything they’d had on the ark and he couldn’t keep brushing it off with “That’s because we have more options.” Eventually, he’d have to cave and accept Monty’s praise as the truth. But as prideful as John Murphy was, accepting compliments didn’t come easy to him. Monty seemed to understand, though. Monty seemed to understand a lot about Murphy without him actually having to say it, which Murphy was beyond grateful for, because talking about his feelings was something he still wasn’t too comfortable doing.

Murphy moved towards the spice rack, looking for paprika as he lifted the bottles one by one to check their label. He noticed movement out of the corner of his eye and the hair on the back of his neck stood up. Immediately, he was ready to fight. He turned his head as he slowly set down the bottle of red powder and felt his heart stop when he saw it.

Big, black, all eight eyes staring at him, watching his every movement. It had to be at least six inches across with what looked like a dozen legs. Fucking radiation.

Murphy had seen his fair share of bugs since coming to the ground, but the one thing he couldn’t stand was spiders. They terrified him. Too many legs and the fact that their Earth Skills class had said they could be venomous and should be avoided, especially since they didn’t know how the radiation had affected them, it was enough to send him running. So, it was no surprise when he let out a loud, somewhat high-pitched shriek as he backed away from the cabinet, too afraid to move quickly in case it got startled and attacked.

The movies he’d seen on the ark didn’t help any at all, either. He could remember one particular film that had given him nightmares when he was about twelve and had snuck out to see it in order to get away from his mother’s abuse for a few hours, hoping she’d be passed out by the time he got back. Now, all those nightmares came flooding back, quickening his heartrate and sending him into a panic.

Murphy couldn’t tear his eyes away from the spider that seemed to be in no hurry to leave him in peace, even as he heard footsteps coming down the hallway. Apparently, Monty had heard him shriek. That was embarrassing, but he’d deal with it later. When there wasn’t an evil monster staring at him from just four feet away. He turned to look for him out of the corner of his eye, hoping he could help.

“Murphy?” Monty called, rounding the corner of the hallway and coming into the kitchen, a fire poker in his hand.

Murphy wasn’t even sure why they had a fire poker. The fireplace was fake. Humans of the past had been obsessed with useless things. Even so, Monty looked kind of adorable with the poker clutched in his hand like he was ready to gut whoever had caused Murphy to scream. It was a little heroic and it made Murphy’s heart flutter, seeing him come to his rescue. But, still, that wasn’t the point.

Upon realizing there was no attacker, Monty gave Murphy a puzzled look. “What’s wrong?”

Murphy opened his mouth to speak but the words caught in his throat. He was too afraid to say anything in case it drew the spider’s attention to him and it decided he was a threat and not a just a terrified teenager trying to make fucking Spicy Pork Stew – with the pork having been substituted for whatever plant based, dehydrated protein the bunker had been stored with, Murphy wasn’t sure what it was, just that it held the flavor of other spices well but had little flavor of its own – and decided to poison him with whatever venom it had stored in its enormous fangs. Okay, maybe not enormous, but still, they were _fangs._

So, instead, Murphy just pointed silently to the counter and tore his eyes away from the spider long enough to give Monty a terrified look that only left the boy more confused.

Monty raised his eyebrows but walked further into the kitchen to take a look at whatever Murphy was pointing to. The spice jars had probably gone rouge and formed a cult or something equally as ridiculous.

Monty had to bite his lips to keep himself from laughing when he saw what had Murphy so shook up. But, he didn’t think laughing at Murphy would do any good for the boy’s self esteem, which was still rocky, though Monty would never have guessed it was from the way Murphy had acted back at camp. He seemed to be really good at putting on a mask. Unless, of course, he was faced with the itsy bitsy spider. Well, okay, medium sized creepy, fuzzy spider with too many goddamn legs, but still, it shouldn’t have been that big of a deal.

Monty turned to look at Murphy, a little exasperated but trying to keep his features from conveying how ridiculous he thought the whole thing was. “It’s a spider, Murph. It’s not going to hurt you.”

Murphy glared at him, forcing the words out of his throat, though they sounded more like they came from a squeaky toy than from a man capable of murdering others in cold blood. “It’s huge and terrifying. Just kill it, please.”

Monty shook his head, wanting to smile because of how cute Murphy sounded but knowing if he did, it was likely to break some of the fragile trust Murphy had put in him, and Monty wasn’t willing to do that. The fact that Murphy trusted him at all blew him away, he had no reason to, but he did, and Monty was going to do everything he could to prove he was worth trusting.

He reached for Murphy’s cookbook, raising it up and going to smash the spider when Murphy yelped.

“Not with that!”

Monty raised an eyebrow in question.

“I don’t want spider parts all over my cookbook,” Murphy explained. “Find something else. Something worthless.”

Monty bit back a rude comment and sighed, setting the book back down, the spider eyeing him warily. “Fine. What should I use?”

Murphy shrugged and looked around, his eyes settling on a bookshelf a few feet away. He pointed at it. “One of those.” They didn’t read those books, anyway. He wasn’t even sure what they were, just that they looked boring.

Monty rolled his eyes but made his way over to the bookshelf, grabbing a large volume before coming back over to crush the spider. He raised the book and slammed it down, but the spider was too quick, its extra legs giving it the advantage.

The spider scurried away and Monty followed it, chasing it all across the cabinet, slamming the book down a few times, the noise making Murphy flinch. Murphy’s fear grew as he watched Monty fail to get the spider. What if he never caught it? What if they had to live with the threat of that– that _thing_ in their bunker forever?

Murphy’s stomach churned as he grew nauseous and panicky. He was scared but he’d never admit it out loud, though it wouldn’t be hard to guess if you looked at his face. His normal emotionless mask was traded in for a frown and wide eyes as he watched Monty try to corral the spider to no avail.

Finally, it looked like Monty was going to be able to smash it, but at the last second it sent itself flying off the counter and scurried over to Murphy, who let out a loud screech and jumped up on the breakfast bar, his breathing shallow as he looked around for it, terrified it had gotten on his clothes.

Monty looked at Murphy, his brow furrowed in concern, but he shook it off for the time being, instead focusing on finding the damn spider.

Eventually, he found it close to the edge of the breakfast bar. He watched it for a second before lifting up his foot and bringing it down on it. There was an audible crunch that made Murphy wince. He felt like he was about to puke.

Monty grabbed a rag and picked up the remains, throwing them in the trash before walking up to his boyfriend who was still perched on the counter. “You okay, Murph?” he asked quietly.

“No,” Murphy admitted, feeling a little pathetic. “Is it dead?”

“Yeah,” Monty told him, nodding. “It’s dead.”

“Did you make sure?” Murphy asked skeptically.

“It’s flatter than a pancake. It’s dead. I promise.”

Murphy nodded and visibly relaxed, taking a couple deep breaths.

“So, you’re scared of spiders, huh?” Monty grinned.

Murphy felt his cheeks heat up but he nodded. “A little bit.”

“A little bit?” Monty snorted. That was an understatement.

Murphy huffed. “I’m terrified of them, okay?”

“You know they won’t hurt you, right? Not unless you provoke them,” Monty said, stepping closer to Murphy and putting a comforting hand on his hip. Murphy was far too tall when he was sitting on the counter for Monty to kiss, but that didn’t stop the urge to kiss him until all the fear was gone from his face.

“That’s not true,” Murphy muttered as he slid off the counter top.

Monty smiled, slightly amused by Murphy. “Yes, it is. I’ve encountered plenty and they haven’t bothered me.”

“Well, they’ve bothered me,” Murphy snapped.

Monty frowned. “You have a bad experience or something?”

Murphy bit his lip but nodded. He had a good reason not to like spiders.

“What happened?” Monty asked, reaching out to take Murphy’s hand and rubbing his thumb across his knuckles, hoping to keep him calm and comforted. The look on his face told Monty that whatever experience he had, it wasn’t a good one, not even close.

“When I was banished from camp, that first night I slept in a cave and I was woken up in the middle of the night by itching, something was crawling on me. When I looked at myself, I was covered in spiders. They were everywhere and they were huge. I panicked and tried to get them off, but they were all over the cave so I ran out. I was so focused on getting them off of me that I didn’t see the grounders in front of me until it was too late and they’d caught me. Then they took me back to their camp and tortured me for three days before turning me into a biological weapon and letting me go,” Murphy said quietly, rushing the words out like if he said them fast enough he wouldn’t have to think about it. It didn’t work.

Monty looked at him in concern, reaching out with his free hand and rubbing his arm, “I’m sorry, Murph. That sounds horrible.”

“It was. So, I have a damn good reason not to like those freaks of nature. Especially when the radiation has turned them into monsters,” Murphy huffed. He could still remember the feeling of the bites, the venom making him too drowsy to fight back against the grounders. Not that it mattered, there had been three of them and one of him and he was already fucked from his fight with Bellamy.

Monty nodded and stepped closer to Murphy, wrapping his arms around him. “Well, now you’re safe.”

“Obviously not,” Murphy scoffed, but he let himself relax into the embrace. Monty never failed to make him feel better. Every time Monty touched him, he felt calmer, more at peace, but he wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was because Monty was the least threatening person he’d met on Earth. Of course, Murphy knew he could kill, and that he had, but he knew he didn’t do it for fun, only out of necessity, and that it weighed on him, every life. Because of that, Murphy trusted him more than he had anyone else since his father, even more than he’d trusted Bellamy. Monty wasn’t going to hurt him. Not purposely, anyway.

“Hey, I’ve got you. I’m not gonna let them hurt you. I won’t let anything hurt you. You _are_ safe, Murphy. Any time you see one, I’ll kill it, no hesitation. And you can stand back and take cover until it’s gone,” Monty joked. He meant it, though. He wasn’t going to let anything hurt Murphy. He’d been hurt enough. Monty cared about him, wanted to protect him, and he was going to do everything he could to do so.

Murphy snorted. “My knight in shining armor.”

Monty just grinned and pulled Murphy in for a kiss. It started slow and sweet but Murphy smirked into it and nipped gently at Monty’s bottom lip. Monty smiled as he parted his lips, letting Murphy deepen it. Murphy slid his tongue against Monty’s, swirling it around it and licking into his mouth. Monty returned the kiss with just as much passion, sucking on Murphy’s tongue and tightening his grip on Murphy’s shoulders, bringing one hand up to tangle in Murphy’s hair.

Murphy grabbed Monty’s hips, his fingers found Monty’s belt loops and he pulled him against him and turned them around so he could back Monty against the counter, kissing him hard. Monty moaned softly into the kiss and tugged gently on Murphy’s hair. Murphy broke the kiss and began trailing kisses down Monty’s neck, the younger boy letting out another, slightly louder moan. Murphy gently scraped his teeth against his skin, Monty letting out a breathy gasp. Murphy didn’t leave a mark, though, he wasn’t sure Monty would let him, though he really wanted to. Instead, he pressed one last kiss to Monty’s lips before pulling back.

“Thank you,” Murphy told him, giving him a look that made Monty want nothing more than to kiss him again and never stop.

“For what?” he asked. It wasn’t like he’d done anything spectacular.

“For killing that _thing._ And for not laughing at me,” Murphy told him, giving him a soft, grateful smile. Monty was slowly becoming one of the most important people in his life. He wasn’t sure, but he was starting to think he was a little bit in love with him.

Monty just shrugged. “You didn’t make fun of me for being afraid of thunderstorms. We’ve all got fears, Murphy, and I’m not about to fault you for that.”

Murphy nodded and rested his forehead against Monty’s, feeling content to just be close to him.

 Monty was right, they all had fears, but Murphy had more than most people should. He was scared of grounders and the dark. Spiders and drunk people. Red straps made his blood run cold and getting sick was literally the scariest thing in the world because every time he got sick, somebody died, and it was always his fault. He was terrified of a lot of things, but if he was honest with himself, right now the thing that scared him most was the thought of Monty leaving, which Murphy was sure he’d do pretty soon. After all, how could he stand to put up with him with no other company for very long? Murphy wasn’t the greatest person, hell, he wasn’t even decent, he knew that, and he wouldn’t fault Monty for leaving. But when he did, Murphy’s heart was going to break.

But until that happened, Murphy was going to hold him close and enjoy what little time he had with him. Before Monty realized he could have something, _someone,_ better back at camp. Because, yeah, Murphy was just a little bit in love with him, but there was no way Monty could ever love him back. He didn’t deserve that, he didn’t deserve someone as good as Monty, he knew that, but he was going to make the most of every second he had with him until the day came when he finally got tired of Murphy and went back to his friends, his life. He couldn’t banish himself forever, eventually he’d learn to forgive himself and then he’d go. Murphy would be sad, yeah, but it was for the best. Monty deserved more than Murphy could ever give him. But, while he was there, Murphy was going to give him everything he possibly could, including himself.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Feedback is loved!
> 
> And I do apologize for any glaring mistakes in this, as I was kinda high on pain meds when I edited this. Like, they'd just given them to me and they were slowly kicking in, so it wasn't too bad, but still, just in case, my apologies.


End file.
